congratulations to Tom King - Tom places 2nd in Silver State Challenge

[ScienceofSpeed]

Congratulations to Tom King who placed 2nd in the Silver State Challenge high speed closed road event's Grand Sport Division.

The car was driven on the event's 90 mile course which includes both straight and twisty canyon roads up to 150 mph. Tom drove a ScienceofSpeed prepared NSX with 400 wheel horsepower to within .098 seconds of a perfect finish, only .002 seconds from first place!

The ScienceofSpeed prepared 3.0L engine was powered by an intercooled CT Engineering Supercharger.

Once Tom completes his next line of modifications which include a cage and ScienceofSpeed designed fuel cell, he will be ready for the Unlimited class. This will allow the car to be pushed to it's new 180-190 mph top speed.

Please check out the press release here:
http://www.scienceofspeed.com/news/press_release/PR - 052708 - Tom King Silver State.pdf

Look out for a writeup from Tom in NSXDriver soon. Congratulations Tom!

Cheers,
-- Chris

 

[NSXrunner]

Wow grats! I didn't know they were still doing the Silver State thing. I heard a couple years back that they were going to stop it. One of these days I'm gonna have to check it out.

 

[ScienceofSpeed]

Check it out:
http://www.silverstateclassic.com/

Cheers,
-- Chris

 

[TomKing123]

Chris Willson and his crew at Science of Speed did an awesome job preparing the NSX for the event. Chris delivered the car personally to me in Las Vegas just a few days before the race, and my biggest fear was that some little thing would break or go wrong - so many changes (engine build, experimental intercooler, new supercharger, new transmission, new clutch, new engine management computer, new gauges, etc.) that I had no right to expect anything but some glitches. There weren't any.

Here's a video showing a few interesting moments in the run:

http://www.youtube.com/v/vs0C1HQgT8E

Tom King

 

[JeffShoots]

Tom, Great run. Looks like thankfully an uneventful one :smile:

What tires and PSI did you run for that LONG Hot day?

Did you take pavement / Tire temps? Can you post some pics of how the tires held.

As you know the unlimited Guys have always had tire problems and I could not imagine a blowout at speed.

After seeing and hearing the tragic ending for some of the unlimited class cars how do you feel about the experience?

 

[TomKing123]

Hi Jeff,

I ran the Continental ContiSport Contact 3 tires with pressures at 36 psi front and 43 psi rear set at Ely's elevation of 6435 feet. Note that the high pressures are important for sustained high speeds. The tires were new (Chris put them on the car while it was at his shop) with date codes in the late 2007 time period. These are Y rated tires (186 mph sustained) with straight circumferential treads to avoid heat buildup. I am very careful with tires and have never had a problem, but as I get up to higher speeds I'll have to be even more careful. Fortunately, tire technology has improved in recent years, and these tires have a higher load rating than the OEM tires that came on the car (and those had quite a high rating).

All the best,
Tom King

 

[NSXAMG996TT]

You da' man Tom! Keep up the good work representing the NSX's racing potentials. BTW, I'm also running Conti3's, but unfortunately lack the mad skills for high speed tracking.

 

[ChopsJazz]

Congratulations. I have thought about doing that event, but I see that have put a lot more planning and effort into it than I ever would have. Tell me about the plane that seemed to be pacing you at the 3:45 min mark. Also, it looked like the Viper left quite a bit of fluid on the roadway. Did that concern you?

 

[ChopsJazz]

I guess sometimes it's not all fun and games...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nemk...w.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105882

 

[Hrant]

Great result Tom.

A few years ago I got quite interested in this run, and asked quite a few questions of Tom who was very helpful, even got a waiver from the organizers to attend their initial driving school ..... but the schedule didn't work out in the end. I will do it one day.

 

[whiteNSXs]

Wow, Bravo!
I met Tom and Chris Willson at 1999 NSXPO. I pretty much copied whatever Tom did with his car from the SSR Integral A2 wheels to the CTSC. He even took off his SSR wheel and brought it to his office in Burlingam so that I could borrow it to test fit a BBK. Super nice guy and a class act. I don't have his driving skill but at least I can say my NSX looked like his. I can now tell my friends that I know a celebrity too.:biggrin:
Steve Howe

 

[TomKing123]

The plane was one of the two safety aircraft, and it was communicating to the race director and the course workers. That's why I expected the event to be stopped, but I had green flags all the way to the finish. They later did red-flag the event and then subsequently re-started it. One of the course workers put out the oil fire with his fire extinguisher and helped Jerry Mall out of the Viper. According to one report, that course worker was a certified physician's assistant, so he would have been qualified to communicate Jerry's condition. I talked to Jerry that evening after the event, and he seemed to be fine.

Yes, it is a bit of a project if you want to compete in the higher speed classes. The 150 mph class is the most competitive, so you have to work hard to have a chance to win. But a lot of people just enjoy the drive, and the lower speed classes are lots of fun without a big hassle.

Hrant, when are we going to get an NSX team together to run this? I would be happy to help and to provide whatever information I can to make us competitive as a team.

All the best,
Tom King

 

[TomKing123]

Dr. Howe is too kind by far. He has been an enthusiastic and friendly and knowledgeable NSX'er for many years. Nice to hear from you, Steve!

Best regards,
Tom King

 

[Hrant]

Hrant, when are we going to get an NSX team together to run this? I would be happy to help and to provide whatever information I can to make us competitive as a team.

All the best,
Tom King

Tom, with the current logistics of abundant trailers to borrow or tag the necessary gear, and Shad being his own boss, the stars are lined up better than before to put an effort. Now if I can only convince the diehard trackers that there are "real" road courses outside the tracks too :wink:

 

[NSXCeptional]

a good result in good health, congradulations

 

[4cruizn]

Awesome! I have thought about doing the Silver State Classic. Congratulations on an amazing time and I'm extremely jealous you got to compete in an NSX. What a trip that would be.

Last year I ran my 290k-mile Legend in the Bonneville 100 up near Wendover in the 100 mph class. This year's race is on June 21st and I'll be in the 105 mph class.

Pics from last year.

http://www.acura-legend.com/vbulletin/f93/road-racing-legend-bonneville-100-g2-coupe-105285/

PS, hi Chris! I stopped by to visit you several months back. I live just down the road from your shop in Tempe.